FOREWORD

JANE GOODALL

well remember how horrified I felt when I learned that scientists had
succeeded in reconfiguring the genetics of plants and animals. The first
genetically engineered (GE) plants were created in the 1980s, but I did
not hear about them until the 1990s when they were first commercialized. It seemed a shocking corruption of the life forms of the planet, and
it was not surprising that many people were as appalled as I was and
that these altered organisms became known as Frankenfoods.
In fact, there were good science-based reasons to mistrust the new
foods; yet GE crops have spread throughout North America and several
other parts of the world. How has this come about? The answer to that
question is to be found in Steven Drukers meticulously researched book.
Several years in the making, it is a fascinating, if chilling story.
I did not realize what a formidable task the bioengineers faced as they
struggled to introduce new genes into a variety of agricultural crops.
Their intent was to make them produce toxins that would deter insect
pests, or enable them to resist herbicides, and so on. A major challenge
was the need to overcome the various defensive mechanisms of the plants
themselves, which did their best to repel the alien material. Another was
to compel the foreign genes to function in a cellular environment where
they would ordinarily remain dormant. It is a testament to human persistence and ingenuity that the scientists finally succeeded!
But the reconfigured plants they eventually created were, as Druker
explains in engaging detail, different in a variety of ways from their parents; and from the outset many qualified scientists expressed concerns
about the safety of the new crops for both the environment and human
and animal health. He further demonstrates that this very real difference
between GE plants and their conventional counterparts is one of the
basic truths that biotech proponents have endeavored to obscure. As
part of the process, they portrayed the various concerns as merely the
ignorant opinions of misinformed individuals and derided them as not
only unscientific, but anti-science. They then set to work to convince
the public and government officials, through the dissemination of false

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Altered Genes, Twisted Truth

information, that there was an overwhelming expert consensus, based on

solid evidence, that the new foods were safe. Yet this, as Druker points out,
was clearly not true.
As the chapters progress, we read how the advocates of genetic engineering have steadfastly maintained that the crops created by this radical
technology are essentially similar to those from which they have been derived, that the process is splendidly exact, and that GE foods, therefore,
are if anything safer than their traditionally bred parents when in fact,
theres significant dissimilarity, the process is far from exact, and the risks
are greater, especially the risk of creating unexpected toxins that are difficult
to detect.
Druker describes how amazingly successful the biotech lobby has been
and the extent to which the general public and government decision-makers
have been hoodwinked by the clever and methodical twisting of the facts
and the propagation of many myths. Moreover, it appears that a number
of respected scientific institutions, as well as many eminent scientists, were
complicit in this relentless spreading of disinformation.
Chapter 5 shows how the key step in the commercialization of GE foods
occurred through the unbelievably poor judgment if not downright corruption of the US Food and Drug Administration (the FDA). This regulatory body is supposed to ensure that new additives to foods are safe before
they come to market, and it had a responsibility to require that GE foods
were proven safe through standard scientific testing. But the information
that Druker pried from the agencys files through a lawsuit revealed that it
apparently ignored (and covered up) the concerns of its own scientists and
then violated a federal statute and its own regulations by permitting GE
foods to be marketed without any testing whatsoever. The evidence further
shows how the agency assured consumers that GE foods are just as safe as
naturally produced ones and that their safety has been confirmed by solid
scientific evidence despite the fact it knew that no such evidence existed.
Druker makes the case that it was this fraud that truly enabled the GE
food venture to take off. And he asserts that the fraud continues to deceive
the public and Congress, despite the fact that the lawsuit he initiated thoroughly exposed it. His description of the proceedings surrounding this lawsuit was,to me,one of the most astounding and chilling parts of the book.
And what of the role of the media? How have the American public been
so largely kept in the dark about the realities of GE foods to the extent
that until quite recently, a vast majority of the populace did not even know
they were regularly consuming them? Druker describes, in Chapter 8, how

Foreword by Jane Goodall

xiii

the mainstream mediahave been highly selective in what they report and
have consistently failed to convey information that would cause concern
about these engineered products. Moreover, Druker demonstrates that
the policies imposed by the media magnates have been, in his words, not
merely selective, but suppressive. And he relates several dramatic incidents
in which journalists who tried to bring unsettling facts to light had their
stories altered or totally quashed by higher level executives. So it is not surprising that the American public, and a good many key decision-makers,
believe that there are no legitimate concerns regarding GE foods.
I am personally grateful to Steven Druker for writing this book.It has
been a monumental task and reflects the passionate desire of a man with a
true scientific spirit to reveal, as precisely as possible, the truth behind the
misrepresentations of the truth. Nonetheless, despite its integrity, Altered
Genes, Twisted Truth can be expected to meet fierce criticism from those
who promote the GE food venture; and, like all who attempt to disclose
the ventures underside, its author will probably be attacked and branded as
anti-science and anti-progress.BUT it seems to me that it is not those who
point to the problems of the venture who are anti-science: it is quite the
other way around. Nevertheless, Druker will almost surely be subjected to
the same sort of criticisms as those leveled against Rachel Carson when she
published Silent Spring in 1962.
I think it is important that you read this book carefully, assessing for
yourself how firmly it is grounded in fact and logic. You may well come to
the same conclusion as I have: that Steven Druker is upholding the tradition of good science. Then read some of the books and articles written by
pro-GE scientists especially some of those by prominent biologists and
you may well decidethat their standards often fall significantly short of his.
In fact, he points out several instances in which it appears that such publications are downright deceptive, not only portraying genetic engineering
in a misleading manner, but even misrepresenting some basic features of
biology. Further, although these scientists may genuinely believe that GE
foods are the solution for world hunger, it appears that many of them have
vastly overestimated the benefits of these foods and that even if these
products did not entail higher risks, its doubtful they could significantly
reduce malnutrition or solve any major problems of agriculture.
Although this book tells a story thats in many ways distressing, its
important that it has finally been told because so much confusion has
been spread and so many important decision-makers have apparently been
deluded. Fortunately, the final chapter shows how the story can have a

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Altered Genes, Twisted Truth

happy ending, and it clearly points the way toward realistic and sustainable
solutions that do not involve genetic engineering. Thus, just as my own
books aim to instill hope, this book is ultimately a hope-inspiring one too.
For it describes not only some of the mistakes that we have made but how
they can be rectified in creative and life-supporting ways.
Druker has, without doubt, written one of the most important books
of the last 50 years; and I shall urge everyone I know, who cares about life
on earth, and the future of their children, and childrens children, to read
it. It will go a long way toward dispelling the confusion and delusion that
has been created regarding the genetic engineering process and the foods
it produces.
To me, Steven Druker is a hero.He deserves at least a Nobel Prize.
Jane Goodall, PhD, DBE and UN Messenger of Peace

INTRODUCTION

How I Reluctantly
Became an Activist
And Uncovered the Crime that Enabled the
Commercialization of Genetically Engineered Foods

ost people would be surprised to learn that Bill Clinton, Bill

Gates, and Barack Obama (along with a host of other astute and
influential individuals) were all taken in by the same elaborate fraud.
Theyd be even more surprised to learn that it was not perpetrated by
a foreign intelligence agency, an international crime syndicate, or a cabal
of cunning financiers but by a network of distinguished scientists and
that it did not involve change in the climate but changes to our food.
And, if theyre Americans, they would be shocked to discover that the
US Food and Drug Administration has been a major accomplice and
that because of its deceptions, for more than fifteen years they and their
children have been regularly ingesting a group of novel products that the
agencys scientific staff had previously determined to be unduly hazardous to human health.
This book tells the fascinating and frequently astounding story of how
such a remarkable state of affairs has come to be; and Im uniquely positioned to tell it, because I uncovered one of its key components.

In early 1996, I did something few Americans were then doing: I decided
to learn the facts about the massive venture to restructure the genetic core
of the worlds food supply. And the more I learned, the more I became
concerned. It grew increasingly clear that the claims made in support of
genetically engineered foods were substantially at odds with the truth
and that there were strong scientific grounds for viewing such products
with a cautious eye.
Of special concern was the behavior of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which has refused to regulate genetically engineered foods

Altered Genes, Twisted Truth

and instead has energetically promoted them.1 I found it problematic this

agency had adopted a presumption that genetically engineered (GE) foods
are as safe as natural ones and was allowing them to be marketed not only
without testing but even without labels to inform consumers about the
genetic reconfiguration that had occurred. I believed this was unscientific,
irresponsible, and fundamentally wrong.
I also had a hunch it was illegal a hunch my research eventually confirmed.
As my knowledge grew, there also grew a conviction that a lawsuit should
be brought against the FDA to overturn its policy on GE foods and compel it to require the safety testing and labeling that consumers were being
wrongfully denied. At that point, I didnt envision playing an active role
in the legal proceedings or even getting extensively involved in the developmental phase of the suit. My intention was to present the idea to others
who had greater expertise and resources and inspire them to carry it out.
Although I have a law degree from the University of California at Berkeley,
practicing law has not been the central focus of my professional life, and I
had scant experience in litigation. Further, I was immersed in a project that
was dear to my heart and didnt want to get sidetracked.
Yet, in the process of trying to inspire others to do the lawsuit, I gradually became the main person organizing it and driving it forward. The
executives of public interest organizations with whom I spoke all thought
the suit was a great idea, but none felt ready to take it on. After some
weeks of attempting to find an organization that would shoulder the suit, I
discussed the situation with a molecular biologist who was concerned that
in the push for rapid commercialization of GE foods, the risks were being
unduly discounted and testing irresponsibly neglected. As I explained how
my ideas for the lawsuit had been uniformly greeted with enthusiasm but
that none of the groups was prepared to turn them into reality, he said:
Steve, dont you realize this is your baby? If you dont do it, its not going
to happen. Much as I desired to have someone else do the suit so I could
get back to my other project, and much as I wanted to reject his assessment,
deep down I had an inescapable feeling he was right.
So I set my project aside, founded the Alliance for Bio-Integrity (a nonprofit public interest organization), and as its executive director, devoted
myself full-time to organizing the lawsuit. In a few months, I gained the
collaboration of the International Center for Technology Assessment, a
respected public interest organization in Washington, D.C. with a skilled
team of lawyers. They had substantial experience in litigation with federal

Introduction: How I Reluctantly Became an Activist

administrative agencies, and they agreed to be the attorneys of record, on

the condition that I would continue to coordinate the various elements
of the project and to raise the necessary finances. In time, I also became
actively involved as an attorney, undertaking key research and contributing
to the briefs and other documents filed with the court.
During the preparation phase, a primary goal was to attain an impressive
set of plaintiffs. Over the following months, through numerous phone calls,
emails, and journeys to personal meetings, I assembled an unprecedented
coalition to join the suit and sign the complaint against the FDA that was
submitted to the court. For the first time in US history, a group of scientific
experts became involved in a lawsuit challenging the policy of a federal
administrative agency, not as advisers or expert witnesses, but as plaintiffs
plaintiffs who formally objected to the policy on scientific grounds. In a
bold move highlighting the unsoundness of that policy, nine well-credentialed life scientists (including tenured professors at UC Berkeley, Rutgers,
the University of Minnesota, and the NYU School of Medicine) stepped up
to sue the FDA and formally assert that its presumption about the safety of
GE foods is scientifically flawed because they pose abnormal risks that must
be screened by rigorous testing.
Equally unparalleled, they were co-plaintiffs with a distinguished group
of spiritual leaders from diverse faiths who objected to the FDAs policy
on religious grounds. Within this group were the President of the North
American Coalition on Religion and Ecology, the chaplain at Northeastern University, and a lecturer in theology at Georgetown University. In
all, there were seven ordained priests and ministers from a broad range of
Christian denominations (including Episcopalian, Lutheran, Baptist, and
Roman Catholic); three rabbis (Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform);
the chancellor of the Americas Dharma Realm Buddhist University; and
a thousand-member Hindu organization from Chicago. These plaintiffs
stated that in their view, the manner in which biotechnicians are reconfiguring the genomes of food-yielding organisms is a radical and irreverent
disruption of the integrity of Gods creation and that they felt obliged to
avoid consuming the products of such interventions as a matter of religious
principle. They alleged that by failing to require proper labeling, the FDA
was unavoidably exposing them to these foods and preventing them from
the free exercise of their religious beliefs. (Some of the religious-based reasons for rejecting GE foods are more fully described in Chapter 14.)
Although proponents of GE foods attempt to portray any religiously motivated opposition as due to ignorance about the facts of genetic

Altered Genes, Twisted Truth

engineering and a resultant failure to appreciate its similarity to traditional

breeding, these plaintiffs were well-informed; and they therefore understood how deeply it does differ from natural processes. (These differences
are thoroughly discussed in Chapter 4).

Alliance for Bio-Integrity, et al. v. Shalala, et al. was filed in US District

Court in Washington, D.C. in May 1998. The first named defendant was
Donna Shalala because, as the Secretary of the Department of Health and
Human Services at that time, she oversaw the FDA, which is one of the
agencies within that department. The acting commissioner of the FDA was
the other defendant.
The suit quickly achieved a major effect because, as part of the discovery
process, it forced the FDA to hand over copies of all its internal files on GE
foods. Eager to delve beneath the agencys public pronouncements and see
if they jibed with what it really knew and how it had actually operated, I
assumed responsibility for analyzing this trove of documents. As I combed
through the more than 44,000 pages of reports, messages, and memoranda, I made several startling discoveries. By the time my investigation was
finished, I had compiled extensive evidence of an enormous ongoing fraud.
It revealed that the FDA had ushered these controversial products onto the
market by evading the standards of science, deliberately breaking the law,
and seriously misrepresenting the facts and that the American people
were being regularly (and unknowingly) subjected to novel foods that were
abnormally risky in the eyes of the agencys own scientists.
This fraud has been the pivotal event in the commercialization of genetically engineered foods. Not only did it enable their marketing and acceptance in the United States, it set the stage for their sale in numerous other
nations as well. If the FDA had not evaded the food safety laws, every GE
food would have been required to undergo rigorous long-term testing; and
if it had not covered up the concerns of its scientists and falsely reported
the facts, the public would have been alerted to the risks. Consequently,
the introduction of GE foods would at minimum have been delayed many
years and most likely would never have happened.
So its vital that the story of the FDAs crime be fully told; and this book
does so in a comprehensive and vivid manner, disclosing how a government
agency with the duty to safeguard the nations food supply was induced to
perpetrate such a fraud, how the fraud was carried off, and how, even after
being exposed and conclusively documented, it has maintained its strength
and continued to deceive the public.

Introduction: How I Reluctantly Became an Activist

Moreover, in fully telling this story, the book relates a much bigger one,
a story in which the FDAs behavior does not stand as an isolated aberration
but forms an integral part of a broader pattern of misconduct. It presents
a graphic account of how the genetic engineering venture arose, the stages
through which it has advanced, and how, at every stage, the advancement
relied upon the sustained dissemination of falsehoods. In line with its title,
it demonstrates that the broad-scale altering of genes has been chronically
and crucially dependent on the wholesale twisting of truth and shows
how for more than thirty years, hundreds (if not thousands) of biotech
advocates within scientific institutions, government bureaus, and corporate
offices throughout the world have systematically compromised science and
contorted the facts in order to foster the growth of genetic engineering, and
get the foods it produces onto our dinner plates.
Thus, the narrative that unfolds in the following pages is fundamentally
a story about the corruption of science and its concomitant corruption
of government, not through the machinations of a scientific fringe group
in league with a pack of powerful political ideologues, but through the
workings of the mainstream scientific establishment in concert with large
multi-national corporations and their co-optation of government officials
across the political spectrum, and across the globe. Further, by the time the
story ends, it will be clear that the degradation of science it depicts has not
only been unsavory but unprecedented: that in no other instance have so
many scientists so seriously subverted the standards they were trained to
uphold, misled so many people, and imposed such magnitude of risk on
both human health and the health of the environment.

A variety of documents (including transcripts of scientific conferences,

statements by government agencies, newspaper reports, journal articles,
and books by historians of science) collectively chronicle the bioengineering venture. Together, they amply illumine its underside, revealing how
the integrity of science and the integrity of government have both been
routinely sacrificed so the enterprise could advance. I have drawn deeply
from these resources, often crystallizing key facts that were not widely
known. Additionally, because I was engaged in the campaign to properly
regulate GE foods for many years on several continents (meeting a broad
range of government officials, interacting with scientists and journalists,
and participating in conferences and debates), I have repeatedly witnessed
the corrosive processes firsthand; and the narrative has been enhanced by a
number of these experiences.

Altered Genes, Twisted Truth

Further, many striking accounts of the corrosion were imparted by

scientists who have striven to stop it. One of the foremost is the eminent
biologist Philip Regal, who for twenty years spear-headed the endeavor to
get the genetic engineering enterprise aligned with solid science and tempered by responsible regulation. His story, which forms part of several subsequent chapters, illustrates the diverse and often shocking ways in which
the scientific establishment and the government consistently frustrated this
endeavor to the extent he became convinced that when dealing with GE
foods, the US executive branch would not honor science and the law unless
compelled by a court, and so decided to become a plaintiff in the lawsuit I
organized. By sharing his insights and experiences with me over the course
of many personal meetings, phone conversations, and emails, and by giving
me the extensive set of recollections he had recorded, he has enabled me to
expose the infirmities and delinquencies of the bioengineering venture in a
much richer way than would otherwise have been possible.

Like Dr. Regal, a growing number of experts have recognized that this
enormous venture rests on shaky assumptions and relies on questionable
claims and that increased creativity is required to chart the best way forward. Among them is Evelyn Fox Keller, a distinguished professor of the
history and philosophy of science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In her book, The Century of the Gene, she notes that the apparent
efficacy of genetic engineering provides no assurance that its free from
unintended harmful effects.2 She further points out that with the rise of
this technology, an unprecedented bond has grown between science and
commerce and that as this bond has tightened, scientists have become
increasingly invested in the rhetorical power of a persuasive mode of gene
talk that imputes a precision and predictability to bioengineering that it
does not possess.3Keller emphasizes that the shortcomings of such gene
talk necessitate its transformation.4 Her book concludes with the hope
... that new concepts can open innovative ground where scientists and lay
persons can think and act together to develop policy that is both politically
and scientifically realistic.5
The following chapters aim to help clear the way to such innovative
ground by revealing that the most scientifically realistic policy can easily
coincide with the most politically realistic one and that its only because
the politics of genetic engineering became detached from the scientific
realities that the current problems we face were allowed to arise. Its my
hope that the information they contain and the insights they convey will

Introduction: How I Reluctantly Became an Activist

end the confusion that has caused the split and speed the implementation
of needed reforms, the reinstatement of scientific standards, and the growth
of an agricultural system that yields abundant wholesome food in a safe and
sustainable manner.

Ways to Enhance Your Enjoyment of this Book: Utilizing the

Executive Summary and Easily Accessing the Endnotes
Ive endeavored to make this book a good story and have employed a narrative style as much as feasible. But because the story is about science and
the corruption of science by many of its practitioners it was necessary to
explain many technical facts and examine some rather complex scientific
issues. And because Ive aimed to produce a book thats not only accessible
and enjoyable for the general reader but also serves as a reliable and comprehensive resource for experts, some chapters discuss a substantial amount
of information. Many readers will find these discussions stimulating and
will appreciate their depth; but others may, at some stage in one of the
longer chapters, develop a desire to simply get the gist of the remainder and
move on to the next chapter.
In the event such a feeling arises, you can skip to the Executive Summary and read that chapters main points. (It can be downloaded at:
http://alteredgenestwistedtruth.com/executive-summary/) You can also
look at a chapters summary after youve completed it in order to crystallize
the basic facts. And even if you read the entire book without glancing at
the summary, you may then wish to read it to gain a holistic overview and
solidify your understanding.
Of course, some individuals with limited time may prefer to read the
Executive Summary first and later read the entire book (or selected chapters) to gain more detailed knowledge.
However, I dont encourage this, because if you read it first, it might
spoil the experience that can be gained by allowing the story to unfold
chapter by chapter. Several of those who reviewed the book have remarked
that its engaging and often imbued with drama, and some have described
it as a page-turner. But the drama could be dampened by reading a summary of each chapter ahead of time.
So, if you intend to read the entire book, I advise that you initially
ignore the Executive Summary. Further, if you want to examine the issues
even more thoroughly than is done in the main text, you will find that many
significant points are discussed in greater depth in the appendices and the
endnotes which leads to an important note about these notes.

Altered Genes, Twisted Truth

For those of you reading the e-book version, hopping to an endnote

and returning to the text is simple. But if youre reading the printed
book, it would ordinarily be a lot more complicated and time consuming. So to make the endnotes more readily accessible in this situation,
theyre located not only at the end of the physical book but also online at
http://alteredgenestwistedtruth.com/endnotes/. That way, you can download the endnote section and either print it or store it on your computer,
tablet, or e-reader. Then, as you read a chapter, you can have a copy of its
endnotes nearby and easily transition between the two.
Further, so you wont need to travel back and forth between the notes and
a bibliography that contains the full references for the sources that are cited,
when a source is cited in a chapters note section for the first time, it will be
fully referenced (even if its already been fully referenced in the notes for an
earlier chapter). Then, subsequent citations of that source will indicate at
what preceding note within that section the full reference can be found.

A Note Regarding Terminology

The term biotechnology is sometimes broadly employed to refer to all

techniques that utilize (or modify) biological processes, including ancient
practices that rely on fermentation such as making wine, brewing beer, and
leavening bread. But the term can also be used in a narrower sense, to refer
exclusively to modern techniques, such as genetic engineering, that depend
on highly artificial interventions and that have no established history of
safe use. In this book, I employ the terms biotechnology and biotech
in their restricted sense to denote only this latter group of techniques that
have not stood the test of time.
Further, because instances of misrepresentation, misstatement, misinformation, inaccuracy, and falsehood can occur through ignorance
of the truth, and none of the terms necessarily denotes an intent to deceive,
I do not use them to imply that one existed even though it may have.
Instead, I reserve the words fraud, lie, deception, and disinformation to denote deceit. Moreover, when I refer to a fraud, deception, or
disinformation campaign that was propagated by many individuals, I do
not imply that every person who in some way abetted it has been guilty of
deception merely that some have. Furthermore, due to the difficulty of
discerning who spoke from ignorance and who did not, unless I specifically
assign guilt, it should not be assumed that anyone in particular has been
accused.